The Castle Ruins

A HAPPY day at Whitsuntide, 
  As soon ’s the zun begun to vall, 
We all stroll’d up the steep hill-zide 
  To Meldon, gret an’ small; 
Out where the Castle wall stood high
A-mwoldren to the zunny sky. 
 
An’ there wi’ Jenny took a stroll 
  Her youngest sister, Poll, so gay, 
Bezide John Hind, ah! merry soul, 
  An’ mid her wedlock fay; 
An’ at our zides did play an’ run 
My little maid an’ smaller son. 
 
Above the baten mwold upsprung 
  The driven doust, a-spreaden light, 
An’ on the new-leav’d thorn, a-hung,
  Wer wool a-quiv’ren white; 
An’ corn, a-sheenen bright, did bow, 
On slopen Meldon’s zunny brow. 
 
There, down the roofless wall did glow 
  The zun upon the grassy vloor,
An’ weakly-wandren winds did blow, 
  Unhinder’d by a door; 
An’ smokeless now avore the zun 
Did stan’ the ivy-girded tun. 
 
My bwoy did watch the daws’ bright wings
  A-flappen vrom their ivy bow’rs; 
My wife did watch my maid’s light springs, 
  Out here an’ there vor flow’rs; 
And John did zee noo tow’rs, the place 
Vor him had only Polly’s face.
 
An’ there, of all that pried about 
  The walls, I overlook’d em best, 
An’ what o’ that? Why, I made out 
  Noo mwore than all the rest: 
That there wer woonce the nest of zome
That wer a-gone avore we come. 
 
When woonce above the tun the smoke 
  Did wreathy blue among the trees, 
An’ down below, the liven vo’k 
  Did tweil as brisk as bees:
Or zit wi’ weary knees, the while 
The sky wer lightless to their tweil